caulfield12

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Feb 16, 2015 -> 08:59 AM) LMAO not only is this completely unprovable, but it is very likely WRONG. Yost made so many bad moves along the way, it is amazing that the Royals got as far as they did Do you also believe the White Sox would still have won the World Series in 2005 if they fired Ozzie when the Indians were only 1 1/2 games back? Of course, nothing is provable. Other than bringing in Ventura in relief for Shields, what did Yost do wrong? BTW, I've read all off-season that Shields was terrible in the playoffs and not "Big Game" James, so maybe it wasn't the worst idea in the world... The Royals and Giants had basically the same amount of regular season victories...so why is Bochy a "genius" and Yost is just lucky when there wasn't a single All-Star caliber hitter on that roster?

QUOTE (brett05 @ Feb 16, 2015 -> 07:22 AM) I'd not have Robin ranked as high as he is. I'd also rank Sandberg ahead of him quite easily. I'd love to have a replacement for him ASAP. If we start out like 2-6 please Jerry, can him and bring in somebody to manage the club. We have a shot this year. If the Royals did that at mid-season with Yost, they probably would have missed the playoffs. The hardest thing about managerial changes in-season is that the best options are usually under contract and can't be tampered with. Who do you have in mind that you're absolutely sure would be a better option AND would be available to jump in (step over White Sox icon Ventura's still warm body) and take over?

Aaron White and Woodbury have been laughably terrible in this game. At this point, I don't even care about this rest of the season. Pathetic. But no Iowa fan should really be surprised if they've followed this team carefully the last 3 seasons. Last year, there was Twittergate. This year, it's Woodbury eye-pokes. McCaffrey always seems to be his own worst enemy with the media.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 15, 2015 -> 03:46 PM) I will truly never understand this. ??? The jury's still out. Collapse in 2012, but the Tigers had the better team. Borderline lost the team in 2013, then kept them competitive for most of last season. He could be rated anywhere from 16th-27th and most fans wouldn't have a strong opinion on it either way.

I'm sure Hawk leaving will eventually lead to us getting Gordon Beckham as his replacement. Oh, joy.

QUOTE (raBBit @ Feb 15, 2015 -> 03:10 PM) And the Sox are converting on all these quasi-prospects who hit at levels they are too old for? Converting? What do you mean? Like trading Semien, Ravelo and Phegley for Samardzija?

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Feb 15, 2015 -> 02:56 PM) Zero evidence, so far, he shot them SPECIFICALLY because they were Muslim. I know you can read. And the shooter has offered statements against all religions, and religion in general. He hasn't just singled out one for his scorn. And I didn't present evidence that they DID make it up. YOU said not likely. I showed you cases where it did happen and offered my OPINION that I thought it was even money they did it themselves. And I have told you both of these at least twice now. So once again, zero evidence that he shot them because he specifically hated Islam. Hating all religions and shooting someone because of that is different that 'Islamophobia'. But don't let that detract from the narrative that Muslims are always the victims because of their religion. 1) He hasn't targeted any Christians before in the neighborhood, even though they comprise roughly 90% of the North Carolina population. 2) He's never said anything specifically anti-Christian, although any of his FB comments can be considered to be anti-Muslim by their context. 3) Dawkins, his role model, has been outspoken against Islam specifically 4) Interjecting the arson comparisons have zero relevance to this particular situation. Let's put it this way...if our own children were Muslim and they were executed in this fashion by this particular lunatic, I think it would be hard to convince us that religion wasn't at least a POSSIBLE factor. In the last couple of days, there was ALSO a fire in Alabama with McCants' $1.5 million home. Does that mean all NFL football players set their homes ablaze to collect the insurance money? I'd say there's better odds in those cases (when the player is having financial problems) than the fire being deliberately set to provoke anti-American sentiment within the Muslim-American community. Or do we want to say 50% of the time a crime is committed, that a white victim is likely to blame a minority for doing it to cover themselves?

If Iowa loses at Northwestern, you can stick a form in them. They were down 23-13 but managed to go into halftime with a more manageable 3 point deficit...mentally fragile now for three seasons in a row. Continuing to struggle in their set offense, and continuing to have trouble defending the 3 point arc. Why in God's name didn't NW foul? Uthoff has single-handedly been carrying Iowa the whole second half.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 15, 2015 -> 01:02 PM) I mean, have you been reading the news the last decade? If there were newspapers during the Inquisition, wouldn't the headlines have looked even worse?

Shields also has a clause in his Padres' contract where he can opt out after the 2016 season, fwiw.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Feb 14, 2015 -> 11:16 PM) He said the Sox OF is now in beginning of interview, he said Royals were last year. That's worse than saying Beckham is the best defensive 2B. Eaton's well above average, but unless Garcia has lost another 30-40 pounds and spent all off-season working on his defense (in which case at best he'd be around Viciedo 2012 levels)...and Cabrera is just average in LF, it's borderline idiotic. Not to mention that Dyson's even better than Cain in CF, when he comes in as a defensive sub and moves Cain to RF. Right now, our 4th OF is Shuck or Taylor, neither of them highly distinguished players defensively.

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Feb 14, 2015 -> 10:41 PM) Best defensive OF in baseball comment Hawk was in mid season form. Hawk and his GB love is a little unhealthy at this point. The Royals?

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/14/europe/denma...ting/index.html More terror/cartoonist-related attacks in Europe....this time in Denmark.

QUOTE (Reddy @ Feb 14, 2015 -> 09:17 AM) Kingsman! Holy lord was that some good s***. From all the reviews, it wouldn't be a surprise at all if that movie passed 50 Shades next weekend. Nice mini-comeback for Colin Firth. Have always enjoyed his performances, The King's Speech being the last really memorable one...and Love, Actually my favorite of his. A Single Man was really strong, too, but the subject matter made some uncomfortable.

The issue I hear from casting agents is that young American actors now are very self-conscious of their image. So rather than playing truthful and themselves—it might be because of so much cable, so much stuff on the internet—they’re almost kind of capturing an image of what they think they should be, rather than playing it. Another example I have: Wall Street II and Solitary Man, each of which called for a “New York City sophisticated 17-19 year old, somewhat spoiled, wealthy girl.” Once again, we ended up with Imogen Poots and Carey Mulligan, two British actresses playing pretty American roles...they (British) happen to be pretty well-trained, disciplined actors, not concerned about their images as to just playing the role and the part. Interesting Michael Douglas interview... http://www.ew.com/article/2015/02/13/micha...american-acting

After reading stuff like that, knowing that the murderer was HEAVILY influenced by Dawkins' work according to all reports, it's IMPOSSIBLE not to rule out the possibility of a religious connection. Whether it meets the standard of being a "hate crime" versus a "hateful" crime, doesn't really matter at this point.

Has the suspect ever attacked Christians, is what I would love to know... Where/when? North Carolina is the heart of the Bible Belt. His (soon to be) ex-wife said he had problems with many neighbors, not just the ones he murdered. That, alone, doesn't clear him. Plus, that's a little bit self-serving, she's trying to protect herself (and her future) because of the guilt by association. So anything she has said so far isn't exonerating from a legal standpoint, any more than a member of the KKK using the "but I have many black friends" excuse. Let's look at some of the comments attributable to Richard Dawkins, who was supposedly the murderer's "role model" July of 2011: Here’s the comment he left on a thread that discussed sexism. It isn’t cute, reasoned critique of religion anymore, just plain vile: Dear Muslima Stop whining, will you. Yes, yes, I know you had your genitals mutilated with a razor blade, and . . . yawn . . . don’t tell me yet again, I know you aren’t allowed to drive a car, and you can’t leave the house without a male relative, and your husband is allowed to beat you, and you’ll be stoned to death if you commit adultery. But stop whining, will you. Think of the suffering your poor American sisters have to put up with. http://www.loonwatch.com/2011/11/another-a...t-from-dawkins/ Richard Dawkins, well known biologist and pop-atheist-guru (add goofball) recently brought up the question of whether or not atheists should support Christian missions in Africa. (hat tip: Rob) He believes the answer is “still no,” (he doesn’t say why) but since Islam according to him is an “unmitigated evil” and atheism is not going to be making any inroads into Africa anytime soon it is a question worth “raising.”

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 04:16 PM) Wow, really? I thought the first one was really good. I loved the whole tone/look of it. For the same reason that The Golden Compass never had a sequel. Or, more recently, Stephanie Meyer's(Twilight series) YA book-based "The Host" completely bombed...or John Carter, etc. Personally, I enjoyed those books, but they do tend to be very dark in nature...they aren't easily adapted to the screen. Maybe, in hindsight, Rapace was TOO good (Swedish film)...but that still doesn't mean it will connect to a mainstream audience, any more than "Under the Skin" could earn boffo box office. 50 Shades of Grey will sink like the Titanic in the second week, probably down 75%. Then the big question becomes whether a sequel will be profitable enough. And should they go all-out and do an NC-17 sequel and cut the budget by 75%, not put it into theatres via wide release and hope to make it back by DVD sales/netflix/rentals, etc.

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 11:15 AM) No it is not the same. You have placed the US at the top of the moral capital punishment pyramid. Perhaps the US is too lenient on criminals and don't execute enough. Your assumption is the US is the moral perfection on the planet and that anything that differs from ours is wrong. There are countries, a lot of them, that have stopped capital punishment. Where do they fall on your list? Can those countries say that all of the countries that kill criminals are wrong? For example, here in China, there's pretty much a zero tolerance policy on drugs (with quite low benchmarks in terms of KG weight trafficked once to earn you the death penalty) and quite limited freedom of speech. As we all know, in the US, over 50% of the criminals who are imprisoned are there for drug crimes. So, because the Chinese/Singaporean/Taiwanese system has worked better economically the last 20-30 years (in terms of GDP growth)...can anyone be absolutely sure the Chinese are wrong? Of course, the trend is actually going against making drugs a capital crime with the legalization of marijuana. Same thing with possession of handguns/weapons (that aren't knives). It's easy for people here to see all the murders on the news in the US and think of our country as barbaric and shortsighted in its policies. So, as Tex notes, we have to look at it from other perspectives to be able to engage in a real debate. To belittle other countries for having policies (for example, showing of skin) based on sacred theistic beliefs is not for us to judge, even if we inherently disagree. A lot of women (when I lived in Indonesia) belief that wearing a hijab/burka is freeing or liberating. They feel like "equal" women and not judged solely on their physical appearance but on their thoughts and ideas. You can understand, when the perception in America is that sex sells and that many women are solely successful because of appearance or a sex tape or being on a tv show, that wouldn't make any sense...can anyone explain why Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian or Farrah Abraham are "successful" to someone from Pakistan or Afghanistan, and keep a straight face while doing so?

Interestingly, Friedman, fwiw, "only" went to Tulane.

QUOTE (ChiSox_Sonix @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 12:05 PM) As with always...exactly the type of person who proves why so many people decide to own their own guns. Or why so many countries decide to start their own nuclear programs. Assured deterrence or assured mutual destruction? If individuals should have the right to defend themselves (with firearms), what gives any country in the world the right to control the destiny of others making that same decision? Isn't the world LESS LIKELY to have a nuclear war if more are armed with them? The problem of course is who decides who has the guns/weapons. Here we have an anti-religious zealot. That, in and of itself, doesn't make him dangerous. However, let's say instead of killing 3 Muslims that he killed Kirk Cameron and his family outside the premiere of "Saving Christmas." I have a feeling there would be a lot more people upset (if Christianity instead of Islam was attacked so brazenly).

QUOTE (Harry Chappas @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 12:00 PM) Harrelson picked him up in a Rule 5 draft so obviously every other GM was well aware of the the outstanding potential he had was going to produce. I like Hawk but that interview on the radio was painful he added nothing to the conversation and the reception was bad. I am not certain if in 100 years we will be talking about Abreu or Garcia as the person who changed the course of White Sox history. Would be shocking if it turned about to be Avisail over Abreu, but stranger things have happened. Up until September, 2008, I would have thought Carlos Quentin would change the course of the franchise (along with Beckham and Viciedo) and that obviously never materialized.

QUOTE (Tex @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 11:08 AM) Part of the acceptance among fans is someone who has made a career of watching baseball players over 40 years is dismissed as not knowing anything and a 21 year old kid with a spreadsheet can manage any team at any time (just ask them). Just plug in the key factors and use the decision that pops up. Both sides could learn a lot from each other. The fact that it seems you have to chose sides is the craziest part of that. Plus, there's the "elitism" vs. "populism" side of it when you consider a lot of the new breed of GM's are coming from schools like Harvard, Yale, MIT, Northwestern/Kellogg, etc. The new Dodgers' GM (MIT), Jon Daniels (Cornell), Epstein (Yale), Mark Shapiro (Princeton), Matt Silverman (TB-Harvard), DePodesta (Harvard), Rick Hahn (Northwestern/Harvard Law), Michael Hill (Marlins-Harvard), Jeff Bridich (Rockies/Harvard), AJ Preller (Padres/Cornell), Ben Cherington (Amherst), Chris Antonetti (Georgetown), Jeff Luhnow (Northwestern/Penn), etc. Sandy Alderson, the former General Manager of the Oakland A’s as well as the San Diego Padres (and the current GM of the New York Mets), pioneered using data driven analytics in Major League Baseball. He’s just a modest guy who is okay with others getting credit for his unconventional thinking that challenged the status quo but is now widely accepted within baseball circles. Indeed Sandy Alderson is as much behind Moneyball as Billy Beane and Billy Beane himself would certainly agree with this. So we’d like to salute Sandy Alderson, the Ivy League graduate (Dartmouth/Harvard Law) and former United States Marine (who served in Vietnam), for changing the business of baseball, for inspiring a movie about his unconventional thinking, and for letting others take all the credit. http://theivycoach.com/the-ivy-coach-blog/...e-and-baseball/

Iowa's the perfect example. They can beat North Carolina in Chapel Hill and sweep Ohio State but also give away a game at home to a team that hasn't won on the road in B10 play and is something like 3-20 in their last 23. Sometimes Aaron White looks like he could make an NBA roster, Gesell is VERY solid (or he looks like Lickliter's son and not deserving of a scholarship) and Uthoff potentially like an NBA late 1st rounder. Then games like this, you wonder if they will ever make the NCAA Tournament again. Uthoff and Jok are maddening sometimes. They still have a VERY favorable schedule over the final 7 (the only pretty sure loss at Indiana), but if they lose to NW on the road Sunday, the roof could cave in again like last year...with the main difference being they were #12 or 13 in the country when they collapsed last year. Very frustrating losses to MSU and Minny at home. But no B10 team should be ashamed to lose to WI twice, even though neither game was close, especially in Madison.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Feb 13, 2015 -> 11:08 AM) He was meeting with Billy Martin and his agent. TV crews were all over it. Fregosi obviously eventually became the replacement. Tony LaRussa getting fired didn't cost the White Sox any championships. Yes, but you could say the same thing about the hiring and firing of Terry Bevington. That really didn't make it a good move, no matter how you spin it. I think this Bob Verdi quote's the best summation (we have to picture Hawk's desk covered with cartons of cigarettes, haha) The Hawk gave the Hawk high marks in baseball, but a D-minus in diplomacy. There can be little doubt about the latter, and it`s only another curious twist in Chicago`s twilight zone of a summer that a man so championed as a people person failed in elementary communications.